Herald of Steel

Lady Felicia had made quite a good case for herself when she asked Alexander to let her control the city, with Alexander agreeing on many of them.

But there were some details Alexander disagreed with.

For instance, he doubted how much Perseus would be able to create chaos in Thesalie given he planned to soon push forward and that should be more than enough to occupy the king's attention for any foreseeable time frame.

Also, he wondered just how influential the lady really was among the people, given that she was a woman.

In this time period, if she were to take the mantle of the city lord and start preaching about Alexander, 

even the uneducated city dwellers would be smart enough to guess how she has spread her legs to get that post.

So her claim to be able to placate the public was not nearly as robust as she made it sound to be.

All of this meant that Lady Felicia, though certainly a strong candidate, was not the only candidate as she was making herself out to be.

Thus after hearing Lady Felicia's speech, Alexander then replied with a light smirk, 

"Oh, then how does Lady Felicia wish to rule the city? Together with your husband? I thought you hated him? How is that gonna work?"

That derision in Alexander's face was apparent, as disregarding the veracity of all that she had said, she appearing now and here asking this implicitly meant she had been lying to some extent to him all along.

But if Alexander thought he would see Lady Felicia's countenance falter at this, then he was going to be disappointed.

Having lied to her husband for more than a literal decade, Lady Felicia had developed a knack for coming up with twisting stories that was hard to match.

Hence putting on a slightly awkward face, she confidently replied with a soothing voice, 

"I know me suddenly asking this is a lot, my lord. I am also aware you must be thinking why I chose to raise this now of all time. Why didn't I say it sooner?"

"Let me answer." Lady Felicia's eyes at this point clear and limpid.

"The reason is because at first I did not know you, my lord. And knowing the gravity of the thing I wanted to ask, I thought it would be better if we could get to 'know each other' a bit better first. That is the reason behind all the actions in the past few days." Lady Felicia's tone sounded very honest, as it then turned a bit pleading, 

"But believe my lord, I never meant to deceive you. Perhaps my methods were not straightforward and to your liking, but I truly want to help you!"

"I was born and raised in Thesalie and I truly love the city. So it aches my heart when I think how the people might suffer." 

At this point, Lady Felicia turned to gaze squarely at Alexander, claiming in a solemn tone, 

"I do not blame you my lord for conquering the city. This is war and to victor belongs the spoils. Neither do I hold any grudge for my father's death."

"He was a great warrior and dying in the battlefield was perhaps the greatest honor for him."

"But I do wish to protect his legacy, this city, and its people."

"......" As Lady Felicia finished, Alexander would have to give it to her it was certainly an impassioned speech.

One with which he would certainly empathize with a bit, as though she did try to seduce him to bed, it was nothing malicious.

But he did not immediately comment on that. 

Instead, he posed, "And what about your husband? Where does he come into all this?"

He needed to know if all what he had been told about Lapitus was all hogwash.

But how could Lady Felicia reveal the truth?

So using Alexander's favourability from the previous speech, she mixed in her answer with some truths and a lot of blatant lies, providing Alexander with a poisoned honey mixture.

"What I said about my husband is all correct my lord. There really were 10,000 men that were supposed to come. And he did ask me to try and poison you."

"But even as he these, in some other cases, he also appeared to be indecisive, like he does not know what he should do." 

At Lady Felicia clamiing this, Alexander produced an intrigued look, signaling her to continue. 

Which made the scheming lady's heart dance with joy, as she had made that last part up because she was afraid Alexander might be able to sense some inconsistencies in her rhetoric at one point.

But now, she could dump anything weird or inexplicable on Lapitus simply being indecisive and acting in conflict with his own goals.

So encouraged by Alexander's reaction, Lady Felicia revealed, "I think I told you my lord, but Lapitus initially was reluctant to surrender, being of the mind to continue fighting till the end."

"It was really me who pushed him to change."

"And though he did open the gates, I believe he still holds some fealty to his former oath."

"The proof is that he wanted to wait for more men and that he wanted to kill you."

"So if you make us couple rule the city, I fear Lapitus might change his mind at some point after being coerced by people from the capital."

"I fear he might forget his oath to you in response to an older fealty."

At this point Lady Felicia paused a bit, letting her warning set root in Alexander's heart.

And Alexander did find the prospect of Lapitus, or any former Tibian officer having a change of heart very possible.

The man had served as the city lord's right hand man for years, and it would not be hard to imagine him fighting for his master's glory.

And as these suspicions grew inside. Alexander, Lady Felicia added fuel to the fire, her voice once again resuming after a while, this time turning a bit grave, her chilly with a glint of cunningness, 

"Previously my lord you asked what my opinion was on how Lapitus ended up. And I replied it was up to you to decide my lord."

"But I was not being entirely truthful back then. What I wished to say was that Lapitus should be imprisoned."

"I refrained because I thought you would think me of an ungrateful wife."

In this way, Lady Felicia had managed to express her own wishes about Lapitus's demise without sounding too scheming.

While Alexander hearing all this felt a headache coming. He did not know what to believe.

But instead of dwelling on that right now, he posed one last question he had in his heart, 

"And that wish for you and Fabiyana to live quietly in a hut… was that all a lie? Did you always wish to convince to let you rule the city?"

If the answer was a simple 'yes', Alexander would discard Lady Felicia right then and there from consideration.

He did not want such a scheming woman under him, fearing he really might get poisoned one day.

And in reality, the answer really was a simple 'yes'.

But Lady Felicia's sixth sense, developed over years of scheming sensed Alexander would not like it.

So flashing a light smile, she gently shook her head,

"No my lord. At that time, I had just met you and did not know if you should even consider my offer. I asked for that because if I then thought you would not even consider it, I would happily live my life like that."

"I'm only revealing myself now because I believe you to be a gentle ruler who cares for his people. And I too care for the people of Thesalie."

By now, Lady Felicia sounded like a freaking saint, making Alexander wonder if she was going to clasp her hands and get down on her knees to pray.

Hearing the sincere tone in which Lady Felicia replied, Alexander first gave a slow nod, commenting, "You say a lot of great things Lady Felicia. And you revealed a great deal many. For that, you have my gratitude."

But then Alexander's eyes turned penetrating, as he posed, 

"So I believe if I were to ask your husband about this, he will surely be able to collaborate?"

Alexander wanted to pressure Lady Felicia to see if she would squeak.

Because contrary to what he claimed externally, he had trouble believing all the woman said at just face value.

In his heart Alexander cursed, 

'She feels just like Gelene. No wonder I felt that vibe earlier. I must have brain damage to have not picked up on it sooner. I need to be careful believing what she says.'

At Lady Felicia revealing her true intentions, the lens through which Alexander looked at her now completely changed, as the man began to match her up against another scheming woman already living with him, finding striking similarities in how the two operated, always employing sneaky, serpentine techniques before coming to the straight and narrow.

Understanding this, Alexander reminded himself that he needed to take care and be careful of what to believe of her.

But unbeknownst to such changes happening in front of her at Alexander's query, the lady gritted her teeth and simply answered, "Yes."

She knew her end would not be well if Alexander truly grilled Lapitus for the truth, but by now Lady Felicia was already in too deep, she was no other way out.